advancing race equity in our work · virtual legal advice clinic for civil legal issues across the...

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Please note: Any views or opinions expressed here are those of the authors and do notnecessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Illinois Supreme Court.

ADVANCING RACE EQUITY IN OUR WORK

Our country has a shameful history of racial injustice and systemic oppression. The devaluation anddegradation of Black, Brown, and Indigenous lives in our society has led to unequal treatment andcenturies of violence toward people of color. The killing of George Floyd has given rise to arenewed national outcry of frustration, anger, and deep sadness. There is a loud and unified call foroverdue change. The Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Access to Justice (“Commission”)adds its voice to the stand against racial injustice and inequality.

We are resolved in our mission to achieve equal, fair, and full access to our civil courts. Our workhas particular importance at this time of immense pain and the devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has laid bare our society’s inability to protect our most vulnerable andat-risk populations, which are disproportionately Black, Brown, or Indigenous. Their struggles as tohealthcare, nutrition, housing, education, and employment have only intensified as a result of thecurrent health and economic crisis. As the pandemic has been unleashed, their legal challengesinvolving basic human needs have grown, but they are without the means for legal representation.Now more than ever, we must work to remove the barriers to achieving access to our civil justicesystem for those who cannot afford lawyers, speak limited English, or are otherwise underserved.

At this moment of national reflection and action, we must address the fact that the barriers toaccessing our civil justice system are founded not only on poverty but also on racism and otherforms of discrimination. The poverty and financial burdens of self-represented litigants and theunequal distribution of resources and assistance are themselves the products of systemic racism.To truly achieve our goals, we must advance race equity in all that we do.

To begin, the members of the Commission and its committees and the Access to Justice Division ofthe Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts will engage in discourse relating to racism, diversity,and inclusion. Our existing community trust work will amplify the voices in Black and Browncommunities and in organizations leading the race equity movement so that we may work togetherto achieve equal protection. Supporting vulnerable populations means not only providing user-friendly court forms and better qualified interpreters, but also examining court policies, rules, andprocedures to determine the points of unfairness and inequality and whether they hinder full andunbiased access to the court system. Our explanations to the understanding and treatment of self-represented individuals will go beyond discussions of poverty. Rather we will tell how systemicracism impacts one’s trust and ability to navigate the court system and achieve a just result. We willalso support and assist the efforts of our partners in the judicial branch in trainings for court staffand judges on implicit bias and deliberative decision-making tools.

We call on every member of the access to justice community to reflect on how we can betterachieve our vision of achieving full, fair, and equal access to our civil courts without racism,discrimination, or bias.

Sincerely,

The Illinois Supreme Court Commission The Access to Justice Division at theon Access to Justice Commissioners: Administrative Office of the Illinois CourtsStaff:

Hon. Mary K. Rochford, Chair Alison D. Spanner, Assistant DirectorCarolyn H. Clift Sophia AkbarLinda T. Coberly Noor AlawadaHon. Thomas M. Harris, Jr. Kathleen CallahanHon. Leonard Murray Kathryn HensleyJennifer T. Nijman Jill RobertsHon. Jorge Ortiz Sarah SongHon. Daniel J. Pierce Hayley YussmanWendy VaughnAndrew M. WeaverTammy R. Weikert

ENSURING MEANINGFULACCESS TO THE COURTS, ANEW THREE-YEAR STRATEGICPLAN

In May, the Illinois Supreme Court approvedthe Commission’s 2020-2023 Strategic Plan.The Plan details principles, initiatives, andactivities for ensuring meaningful access to theCourts. The plan builds on the existing work ofthe Commission and the growing statewidemomentum towards enhancing access tojustice and improving the court userexperience.

A special thanks to the Commission’s StrategicPlanning Committee, chaired by JenniferNijman, for their advice and guidance indrafting this Plan. We thank all of the hard-working volunteers from across the state whoare members of the Commission’s committeesand subcommittees for their dedication to ourinitiatives (See pages 49-55 for a list of thevolunteers)

This newsletter highlights work that isunderway in furtherance of the Plan’s mission.

By: Alison Spanner

DEVELOPING SELF-HELPSERVICES FOR CIVIL APPEALS(STRATEGIC PLAN INITIATIVE #3)

Self-represented litigants in the IllinoisAppellate Court face many unique challengeswithout sufficient resources to assist themthrough the process. The Commission,Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, andPublic Interest Law Initiative (PILI) arepartnering to address this unmet need bydeveloping and implementing a virtual legalclinic model – Illinois Free Legal Answers forCivil Appeals. This will be the first-ever legalhelp desk for appeals in Illinois and theinitiative is expected to launch in September2020.

The program will allow lawyers to volunteer fora short amount of time to answer questionsfrom self-represented litigants about civilappeals. Through the online portal, self-represented litigants will be able to submit aquestion about their civil appeal and have itanswered by a pro bono lawyer. You can learnmore about the program here.

Free Legal Answers is a national initiative ofthe American Bar Association and operates asa virtual legal advice clinic for civil legal issuesacross the United States. In Illinois, theprogram is administered by PILI, who overseesproject promotion, recruitment and training ofvolunteer attorneys, and case management.The intended beneficiaries of this service islower-income Illinoisans who likely havenowhere else to turn for legal assistance. In2019 alone, 114 volunteer attorneys loggedand answered 1280 questions about civil legalissues at the circuit-court level in Illinois. Weare excited to expand this program to offerassistance at the appellate level this fall.

By: Kathryn Hensley

PROMOTING THE USE OFSTANDARDIZED, PLAIN-LANGUAGE LEGAL FORMSSTATEWIDE (STRATEGIC PLANINITIATIVE #6)

We are pleased to share that we havepublished the Affidavit – Supporting DocumentsNot Attached to Eviction Complaint, availablehere, concurrent with the Court’s approval ofthe new Illinois Supreme Court Rule 139. Thenewly approved Rule requires an evictionplaintiff to attach a Notice, Demand, affidavit orproof of service, or a Lease to the evictioncomplaint at the time it is filed. The Rule allowsthe plaintiff to instead attach a standardizedaffidavit approved by the Supreme Court to theEviction Complaint if the plaintiff does not havea Notice, Demand, affidavit or proof of servicethereof, or a Lease. The new Rule now makesthe Eviction Act consistent with Section 2-206of the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure, whichrequires the attachment of a written instrumenton which a claim is based.

By: Kathleen Callahan

USING COURT NAVIGATORS TOIMPROVE THE SELF-REPRESENTED LITIGANTS'COURT EXPERIENCE(STRATEGIC PLAN INITIATIVE #2)

Court navigators” are trained to provide legalinformation and procedural guidance to courtusers, but do not provide legal advice orrepresentation. In Illinois, navigators may bemembers of the Illinois JusticeCorps program,the Commission’s Self-Represented LitigantCoordinators grant program, or courtvolunteers. In other cases, a navigator may bea staff person, such as a circuit clerk, law clerk,law librarian, or self-help center employee. Inaddition to providing assistance to courtpatrons, navigators ensure that new policiesand resources designed to assist court patronsare shared and implemented at the local level.

This year’s Self-Represented LitigantCoordinator Grant program provides anavenue to ask for funds or just to participate inthe Court Navigator Network. Over the pastthree years, Self-Represented LitigantCoordinators have used grant funds to developa range of innovative projects. For theupcoming fourth year of the program,proposals which establish or redesignprograms to meet the issues faced by self-represented litigants in light of the COVID-19pandemic will be prioritized. Projects for thisprogram year could include telephone or onlinechat services, developing Guide & Fileautomated interviews to complete forms andseamlessly e-file, helping self-representedlitigants with appearing remotely for courtdates, or providing safe and socially distant in-person services.

There was a soft-launch of the Court NavigatorNetwork with Illinois JusticeCorps, Self-Represented Litigant Coordinators, and othercourt staff from 22 of the 24 judicial circuits onMay 22, 2020 with a Zoom call aboutreopening the courts and self-representedservices. We are confident that through theRFP process, we will easily meet the goal ofhaving a representative in the Network from alljudicial circuits. Stay tuned for theannouncement of the grant recipients at theend of July. Orientation training will take placethe week of August 17, 2020.

By: Jill Roberts

SUPPORTING PILOT ONLINEDISPUTE RESOLUTIONPROGRAMS AND EVALUATINGTHEIR EFFECTIVENESS,BENEFITS, AND PITFALLSTHROUGH THE CREATION OF AGRANT PROGRAM (STRATEGICPLAN INITIATIVE #4)

On June 15, the Commission released itsinaugural request for proposals devotedexclusively to online dispute resolution (ODR)programs. ODR uses technology to facilitatethe resolution of disputes, or of issues withindisputes, and has the potential to expand thepublic’s access to justice and improve theirexperience with justice processes.

Early adopters of ODR have overwhelminglyconcluded that ODR has increased litigantparticipation, reduced default rates, and freedvaluable court resources. In light of thepersistent need for remote tools that allowcourt patrons to easily access the courts andresolve their disputes and the public health andsafety challenges presented by COVID-19, theCommission seeks to expand the use of ODRand fund the initiation of diverse and innovativeODR programs throughout the state.

The Commissions recognizes thatimplementing a successful ODR program is noeasy task. Accordingly, the selection committeewill consider proposals in their infancy, seekingassistance and guidance in creating anddesigning an ODR program (Planning Phase),as well as proposals seeking assistance andguidance launching a specific ODR programthat has already been identified and planned(Execution Phase).

By: Sarah Song

ENCOURAGING INTERPRETERSAND JUDGES TO USETECHNOLOGY TO PROVIDELANGUAGE ACCESS DURINGTHE PANDEMIC (STRATEGICPLAN INITIATIVE #7)

The Strategic Planhighlights the need tocontinue promoting usageof the AOIC CourtInterpreter Registry andimprove access toapproved interpreters across the state, andalso promote training around video remoteinterpreting. Given the unique challengespresented by the COVID-19 pandemic,addressing access to interpreters in thepresent environment requires a multifacetedapproach.

First, the ATJ Division, AOIC published anIllinois Courts Connect article offeringguidance on how to maintain social distancewhile ensuring language access. Second, itcreated a webinar in conjunction with theIllinois Judicial College on best practices withhiring and using remote interpreters. Thewebinar was recorded and is available forfuture viewing on the Illinois Judicial Collegewebsite. Third, simultaneous interpretingequipment is being purchased for local courtsto assist interpreters and court users withmaintaining social distance when accessing thecourt in person. Additional video remoteinterpreting equipment will also be delivered tonine counties, and existing equipment in sixcounties will be updated. This equipment canbe used both for interpreting and forconducting remote hearings in general. TheATJ Division is also administering two onlineskills building trainings for interpreterspreparing for the certification exam, and bothcourses will discuss best practices on providingremote interpreting services.

By: Sophia Akbar

For more information, please contact Alison Spannerat aspanner@illinoiscourts.gov

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